Halloween! Awesome for some….torture for others. To our children with autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, food allergies, and many more, Halloween can be frightful and not because of the ghosts and goblins! As with any holiday, Halloween brings with it many changes. The visual stimuli of pumpkins, costumes, and decorations may be quite overwhelming for kids! It’s true that […]
5 Tips to Focus on Your Child’s Positive Traits Friends, I’ve done some editing on this post as I’ve become a strengths-based therapist. This is the new and improved post with focus on neurodiversity-affirming language. Yesterday I was working with my son on executive function skills. This has become a daily part of our routine. […]
Many children struggle with difficulties in writing and math. When a child is smart and has a high IQ, struggling with something that comes so simply for other students in the class often leads to anxiety and low self-esteem. As with most learning disorders or learning disabilities, symptoms emerge at different times and each child […]
Interoception is known as the eighth sense. What is it and how does it affect the occupation of kids? Here’s a section from an article in Frontiers of Psychology: “While interoception is a term that has gained and still is gaining popularity in the academic literature since the start of the millennium, consensus on its […]
Welcome to Part 2 of our Holiday Tips for Kids series! Today’s post will cover FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS and SANTA/TRADITIONS!! Family Photographs1) Go at a time of day when children are well-rested and not hungry. Do not rush and arrive early. Even though you may not realize it, children pick up on your energy and mood. Try to […]
Many of our children struggle with communication. Social anxiety, decreased awareness of body language (non-verbal communication), and trouble with pragmatic language (what we say and how we say it, tone, facial expressions) compound difficulties. How do we help children who are waiting for speech therapy or don’t qualify for targeted therapy services? The answer is […]
DYSGRAPHIA is a learning disability. It affects how children acquire written language and the use of writing to express thoughts and ideas. In my book, The Special Needs SCHOOL Survival Guide I dedicated a chapter to dysgraphia because I felt that it was often overlooked yet is the cause of a lot of frustration. We […]
What is mindfulness? According to the American Mindfulness Research Association, it’s: “The state, process, and practice of remembering to observe moment-to-moment experience with openness, and without automatic patterns of previously conditioned thoughts, emotions, or behaviors. Mindfulness can be cultivated through mind-body practices (such as focused attention and open monitoring meditation as well as other intrapsychic […]
School Bus Safety Tips for Children The start of school is approaching and children will begin their daily commute to and from school riding the bus. It’s an exciting time since many children seem to love to ride the school bus. Since preparation is important, let’s take a moment to prepare your children for what […]
As a gift to our friends who subscribe to our blog, a FREE how-to-use scissors guide is provided at the bottom of this post! Thanks for reading, commenting, and SHARING. Children need to be proficient in scissors use in order to participate in school and leisure activities. The strong emphasis on hands-on learning is a […]
